A River in the Rain
by Libquedation
Summary: Post BDM. She had danced before the Academy. She was taught a newer, wicked dance to inflict pain. But now, now she danced it for herself, to the music of the rain. The way it had all begun.


She woke with a start, chest heaving, a scream trying to penetrate her lips. She bit it back, a thin sheen of sweat making her skin glisten. River took in a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself, the last memories of the nightmare fading with every inhale.

Trying to remember what had awoken her, River heard the soft pitter patter of rain on _Serenity's _hull, a gentle lullaby.

Her mind began dancing backwards in time, finally resting upon one of the first memories she had of the rain.

When she was really young, she would go outside when no one was watching and spend hours dancing in the rain. She would execute her ballet routines that she choreographed herself, full of pirouettes and leaps where she would feel as if she was flying, suspended in the air. The rain would fall down, leave little rivers down her alabaster skin.

Carefully, River peeled back her thin covers and got out of her small bed. Reaching, she grabbed the first dress she saw, a thin, loose, flowery ensemble. Pulling it on over her head, River slipped open her door panel, keeping herself alert for any disturbance.

It wouldn't make a difference how much she paid attention though. Every survivor of Miranda slept in their respective rooms, with Simon bunking with Kaylee and Inara in her former shuttle that she was slowly redoing to become her own.

So River was all alone in the small rooms by the infirmary.

She tip toed past what she had dubbed the reading room, due to the amount of reading done by her in it, and continued up the stairs, her feet soundless on the cool metal steps. _Serenity _thrummed with life beneath her soles, her life support keeping everyone alive and well.

As she slipped soundlessly through the halls, River felt the sadness that emulated from the ship, sad she was at the loss of two crew members. Her captain's sadness amplified her own as she felt it rebound in her heart and mind.

Taking careful pains to ignore the sadness, River was aware of a body in the cockpit. Pausing for a moment, she cocked her head as the familiar thoughts of Jayne washed over her. He couldn't sleep either, the nightmares were keeping him awake.

River stood, torn between the rain and Jayne. Nibbling her lip, she chose to continue with the mission at hand, walking softly towards the outside hatch. She gently shut the airlock door, making sure Jayne hadn't heard anything. A smile graced her face as the sound of the rain grew louder as she opened the hatch, the cool drops falling onto her heated skin, making her shiver.

As soon as the hatch was open, River scrambled up the ladder and pulled herself onto the hull of _Serenity, _closing the hatch, but leaving it unlocked.

The rain felt amazing on her skin, and she stood, closing her eyes and savoring the feeling.

It had been a long time since River had heard the rain.

Even longer since she had felt it.

The gentle taps made her smile, almost like a soft caress of Mother Nature against her.

River's feet grasped the slick hull as she opened her eyes and made her ways towards the ladder rungs that led down to the ground. She easily crawled down them and leapt onto the muddy ground, feeling it squelch between her toes.

River slowly walked around to the front of the ship, to where the long grass began, the long tendrils making the hem of her dress soaked.

She stopped walking after she had gone a short distance from the ship. Turning back, she saw the soft blue lights of the cockpit, some of the blinking lights beacons of light in the otherwise dark night.

Closing her eyes, River lifted her face to the downpour, the rain gently kissing her face, sticking to her eyelashes, dampening her hair. Her arms slowly lifted from her sides, pausing when they were perpendicular to her lithe frame. She appeared to be a bird right before it takes flight.

Abruptly, she lifted her arms above her head so that they formed a perfect oval. Slowly, gracefully, she lifted her leg, her foot covered in mud, yet still holding a perfect point. She whipped her leg around her body, the rest of her following her leg, causing her to spin around a few times. She paused in the spinning, lifting her leg behind her and her arm in front, forming a graceful arabesque, the downpour becoming more of a drizzle.

The rain was her music, forming a symphony all around her as she danced, each move becoming more graceful than the last.

It had been a long time since River danced.

She had danced before the Academy.

She was taught a newer, wicked dance to inflict pain.

She had danced it to a music of screams of terror against the innocents in the Maidenhead.

She had danced it to a cacophonous mixture of terror-inducing screams and grunts against the Reavers on Miranda.

But now, now she danced it for herself, to the music of the rain.

The way it had all begun.

Eventually, the rain slowed. River did one last double pirouette, stopping her movements with one leg arched behind her with her arms raised above, her head facing the clearing skies. A single star shone out brightly, twinkling gently from above. River instantly knew which constellation it was a part of, its name, when it was named, everything.

But she ignored the pointless facts running through her head, focusing upon the gentle beauty of the star.

As the clouds cleared, River relaxed her stance, but kept her head raised upwards, watching as more and more stars blinked into sight, finally one of the planet's moons making an appearance.

River felt something stir in her, something from a long time ago.

Something she pegged as happiness.

A soft smile tugged at the corners of her lips, and River felt herself fill with the emotion. Who had known that something so simple, such as dancing in the rain, could bring such joy in a person?


End file.
